Pin Fitting & A Question - Myrna

Did I mention that I haven't sewn much in the last twenty years? It shows however, overall I'm really happy with how my jacket is developing. The fabric is two pieces from stash. I'm not sure of the exact content as they are between ten and fifteen years old.

The top layer is a very stable knit and the bottom layer is satin. I spray basted them wrong sides together, marked a one inch grid with chalk, and zigzagged over the lines with a medium grey thread. Each piece was cut about 2" bigger all around than the pattern piece. When the stitching was done - roughly a 1/2 hour each - the pieces were washed to remove the chalk. The fabric has been through a hot washer and dryer twice.




Here's a detail. It wasn't until I went to lay out the pattern that I realized I'd created a plaid - duh - and would need to match the lines. This is where my lack of current sewing experience showed up. I matched all the across lines but didn't think about the spaces between so at the seams there is sometimes more than an inch between stitched lines. The back is the most likely to be noticed, the side seams not much, and if anyone is that close to my bust to figure it out, good for them! Center front lines up fabulously.

I knew the position of the princess and shoulder seams was correct from the muslin. They were cut and stitched at 5/8". The back and side seams were cut and pinned at 1" to allow for fitting. I'm being careful not to over fit as I want to wear this jacket over jeans. Here's the front and...

... the back.

The hand sewing technique that many of you are using for your seams is really familiar as "quilting as you go" in my (now retired from) career. I wanted to try something new and use Hong Kong seam finishes in a fun color. Does anyone have experience using these on a princess seam? Can it be clipped or not? If so, how does that work. What about around the armhole? Thanks.

- Myrna